Cox’s Bazar Correspondent
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh must be repatriated with dignity and sustainably to ensure they do not have to return to Bangladesh as refugees again, said Jaharat Adib Chowdhury, chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He said the BNP-led government was prioritising sustainable repatriation of the Rohingya refugees.
He made the remarks at a press briefing at the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner’s office on Thursday evening after visiting refugee camps in Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar, throughout the day and meeting government officials and representatives of the United Nations and other international organisations.
At the briefing, he said Rohingya refugees were living in extremely difficult conditions in the camps. More than half of the Rohingya population was deprived of education, and they were not receiving education under Myanmar’s curriculum. Many activities in the refugee camps had been scaled back due to a funding shortage.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman had earlier emphasised the need for cooperation from the United Nations and the international community to find a sustainable solution to the Rohingya crisis in his address to the UN General Assembly.
Earlier, a six-member delegation led by Jaharat Adib Chowdhury visited the Rohingya refugee camps in Ukhiya.
The parliamentary standing committee arrived in Cox’s Bazar on Thursday morning (October 15) and proceeded directly to the camps in Ukhiya.
The delegation included committee chairman Jaharat Adib Chowdhury, S K Azizul Bari, Syed Al Noman, Hummam Quader Chowdhury, Sanjida Islam Tuli and Mir Ahmad Bin Quasem. Cox’s Bazar-Ukhiya-Teknaf MP Shahjahan Chowdhury also accompanied the delegation.
During the visit, the delegation gathered information on the overall situation in the camps, the living conditions of Rohingya refugees, humanitarian assistance programmes and issues related to repatriation.
The programme also included visits to the Rohingya Heritage Centre in Camp-6, the Turkish Hospital in Camp-9 and the World Food Programme’s food distribution centre in Camp-4. The delegation was also scheduled to exchange views with Rohingya youths and women in the camps. #EK